Roman Eyes: Visuality And Subjectivity In Art And Text

Description:
In 'Roman Eyes', Jas Elsner seeks to understand the multiple ways that art in ancient Rome formulated the very conditions for its own viewing, and as a result was complicit in the construction of subjectivity in the Roman Empire. Elsner draws upon a wide variety of visual material, from sculpture and wall paintings to coins and terra-cotta statuettes. He examines the different contexts in which images were used, from the religious to the voyeuristic, from the domestic to the subversive. He reads images alongside and against the rich literary tradition of the Greco-Roman world, including travel writing, prose fiction, satire, poetry, mythology, and pilgrimage accounts. The astonishing picture that emerges reveals the mindsets Romans had when they viewed art - their preoccupations and theories, their cultural biases and loosely held beliefs. 'Roman Eyes' is not a history of official public art - the monumental sculptures, arches, and buildings we typically associate with ancient Rome, and that tend to dominate the field. Rather, Elsner looks at smaller objects used or displayed in private settings and closed religious rituals, including tapestries, ivories, altars, jewelry, and even silverware. In many cases, he focuses on works of art that no longer exist, providing a rare window into the aesthetic and religious lives of the ancient Romans.

Review:
This volume is and will remain a significant contribution to the discourse on Roman art. What it does, it does admirably although it clings tenaciously to a single approach with its own limitations. It is useful as one piece of a complex puzzle about the intentions and reception of art. -- Diana E. E. Kleiner, International Journal of the Classical Tradition The handsomely produced book ... [is] sure to do much to shift the parameters of Roman 'art history' even further and to enrich its discussion. -- Peter Stewart, Art History [V]ery well and clearly written ... and well presented... Roman Eyes in particular counts as a bargain these days. -- Victor Castellani, European Legacy

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments ix Prologue xi Chapter 1: Between Mimesis and Divine Power Visuality in the Greco-Roman World 1 PART 1: Ancient Discourses of Art Chapter 2: Image and Ritual Pausanias and the Sacred Culture of Greek Art 29 Chapter 3: Discourses of Style Connoisseurship in Pausanias and Lucian 49 Chapter 4: Ekphrasis and the Gaze From Roman Poetry to Domestic Wall Painting 67 PART 2: Ways of Viewing Chapter 5: Viewing and Creativity Ovid's Pygmalion as Viewer 113 Chapter 6: Viewer as Image Intimations of Narcissus 132 Chapter 7: Viewing and Decadence Petronius' Picture Gallery 177 Chapter 8: Genders of Viewing Visualizing Woman in the Casket of Projecta 200 Chapter 9: Viewing the Gods The Origins of the Icon in the Visual Culture of the Roman East 225 Chapter 10: Viewing and Resistance Art and Religion in Dura Europos 253 Epilogue: From Diana via Venus to Isis Viewing the Deity with Apuleius 289 Bibliography 303 Index Locorum 335 General Index 343

Author Biography:
Jas Elsner is Humfry Payne Senior Research Fellow in Classical Archaeology at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, and Visiting Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago. His books include 'Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph' and 'Art and the Roman Viewer'.